Is anyone interested in an alternative Android app?

[jic2000]

I recently switched from iOS to Android, and one of the only things I found myself missing was the iSub app. Don't get me wrong, the official Android Subsonic app isn't bad or anything, but there are a few features I really liked in iSub that I couldn't find a replacement for. So, since I had been intending to get into Android app development anyway, this seemed like as good an opportunity as any and I started working on my own Subsonic client for Android. I currently have a fairly basic app running that can browse media folders and download or stream single files, and at the rate I'm going (barring any unforeseen circumstances) I'm pretty sure it should be fully usable by the end of the summer, if maybe a little bare-bones. I'm doing a full-time internship over the summer and going into my senior year in college in the fall, so I can't guarantee any sort of timely updates or support, but I'm planning for this to be a long-term project with feature updates and bug fixes whenever I get around to implementing them.

My question is, is this something people are interested in? I couldn't find any other Subsonic client in the Google Play store, so I'm not sure if there's a demand for a second client app or if everyone is happy with the official one. I'd release it for free and have the source up on GitHub, and my plan would be to focus initially on the couple of features I'm primarily interested in and take suggestions afterwards. One major note is that I don't plan to support playing content within the app - from my point of view, there are a wide variety of capable players in the Play store, so rather than reinvent the wheel there I would just have the app hand files off to external applications (like when you open a URL that points to a media file in an Android browser).

Major features I would initially be focusing on:

• Native ICS theme/features (like the ActionBar) with graceful degradation on older Android versions (currently targeting 2.3.3 and above)
• Library browsing - initially by folder structure, maybe optionally by ID3 tags later
• Local file browsing - one of my petty complaints with the official app is that you have to switch to "Offline" mode in order to browse/manage local files, so I'll have them as two separate views that can be used concurrently
• File/folder downloading - with a choice to download either transcoded files or the original files on the server, and a configurable download location
• File playing/streaming - as I mentioned above, I don't plan to incorporate a media player in the app itself, but it'll be able to launch any installed external app capable of handling the selected file. There'll also be the option to stream either transcoded content or the original, un-transcoded file.

Some features I'd consider adding if there's demand:

• Support for other features from the Subsonic API (http://www.subsonic.org/pages/api.jsp), like playlist management or jukebox control
• Support for multiple servers - I only run one server, so the app currently only supports saved information for one, but it would probably be trivial to add the capability to save information for n servers instead
• Theming support
• Automatic creation of .m3u files from a folder or user-selected list of songs, so a whole playlist or album could be streamed to an external application
• Metadata editing for local files (the API doesn't currently support editing metadata on the server)

Questions/comments/suggestions? Is there a demand for this sort of thing or should I not bother releasing it in the Play store? What should I call the app?

I can provide screenshots if anyone has any desire for them, but they're pretty dull to look at since the app currently only consists of a ListView for browsing files with a few context menus for downloading/streaming.

[NLclothing]

I would gladly purchase an alternative android app, honestly the lack of updates to the one that exists is insulting at this point.

[jic2000]

Well that's certainly encouraging feedback, I had been going back and forth about whether it would make sense to charge for it. What do you think would be a reasonable amount to charge for it? Also, if a paid version exists, do you think it's better to have a feature- or time-limited free version, or a full-featured one with ads?

[hakko]

I think you should do it just for fun. It will give yourself the app you're looking for but cannot find. Other people are definitely gonna switch if it comes out better than Sindre's version. And, not least, it will give you something to demonstrate when you apply for a job after college. I do interviews at my job and people who write in their resume that "I have these open source projects running at Github" certainly have a better starting position.

[jic2000]

Yeah, those were pretty much my thoughts about it - a few places I applied for an internship last year mentioned that open-source projects to show off are a good resume booster. I just thought I'd see if I could get some opinions about what people want that they aren't getting out of the official app so I'd have some ideas for further development once the things I'm interested in are working, since I only personally use a pretty minimal set of the Subsonic features.

[diffy]

honestly the lack of updates to the one that exists is insulting at this point.

Come on man. This is not a friggin' TV show. It is a software and eco-system of software parts developed mostly by one man, be happy about any existing version that you have in your hands and realise that there is no way you can demand anything. It is cool to eagerly expect new versions, yet nothing about Subsonic is insulting, take a chill pill.

[NLclothing]

honestly the lack of updates to the one that exists is insulting at this point.

Come on man. This is not a friggin' TV show. It is a software and eco-system of software parts developed mostly by one man, be happy about any existing version that you have in your hands and realise that there is no way you can demand anything. It is cool to eagerly expect new versions, yet nothing about Subsonic is insulting, take a chill pill.

I may be a little hyperbolic about it.. But when the users are releasing more updates to the app than the developer is, it is pretty easy to feel neglected.. Subsonic is my #1 used app, I gladly paid for all the services because they work well. It seems that some simple updates to the application within 7 months isn't all that much to ask.

[atka]

honestly the lack of updates to the one that exists is insulting at this point.

Come on man. This is not a friggin' TV show. It is a software and eco-system of software parts developed mostly by one man, be happy about any existing version that you have in your hands and realise that there is no way you can demand anything. It is cool to eagerly expect new versions, yet nothing about Subsonic is insulting, take a chill pill.

Well not to be to harsh but the existing version is crap on ICS or above. This has been known for months and nothing has been done about it by the developer, the community on the other hand is trying to improve it and is having some success.

[BKKKPewsey]

Can we keep this thread on topic
The title says it all - this thread is not to discuss the current app

[Zambucco]

I'd love the feature for browsing folders, this is the major drawback for me. I have a lot of folders of various artists, which I like to play as a playlist, but neither the web based or android app let me do this.
I'm surprised that something this simple is missing from the official app

[wesssider]

I'm interested, count me in.

[NTolerance]

Interested. The current app is not usable on ICS.

[Menso]

I and several others who use my subsonic server would very much be interested.

[sassafras]

Rather than reinventing the wheel, there is already a good fork of the existing app which is built using SDK version 14 (aka ICS). It's also on github, which means it can be collaboratively managed.

Dunno, if you plan to monetize your work then you probably don't want to use it, but if your goal is to improve the existing offering, why do all of that legwork over again?

https://github.com/travistabbal/Subsonic-Android <--- The project

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8497&start=160 <--- The thread

sassafras

[gaui]

I would gladly purchase an alternative android app, honestly the lack of updates to the one that exists is insulting at this point.

+1 ... I hate that the app is not in any priority.

Subphonic was promising, but I haven't seen any lifemark for a month.

I would love an active Subsonic Android development.

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